The invention relates to a magnetic tape recorder in which an elongate, rectangular tape cartridge or cassette is endwise loaded and unloaded from a rectangular recorder housing. In particular, the invention relates to a mechanism for opening the access door of the recorder housing, through which the tape cartridge is passed for loading and unloading.
The endwise loading and unloading of a rectangular magnetic tape cassette in a magnetic tape recorder housing has been known for some time. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,091. Within such magnetic tape recorders, the magnetic tape contained in the cassette records data or has its data read therefrom. The magnetic tape cassette is constructed in accordance with standard specifications, and generally appears as depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,262.
In the case of such magnetic recorders the recorder housing includes a generally rectangular base and upstanding, generally rectangular outward face wall. The outward face wall of the magnetic recorder housing is exposed to the operator for loading the tape cassette into and unloading the tape cassette from the interior of the magnetic recorder. The outward face wall of the housing is formed with a generally rectangular slot having dimensions slightly larger than the ends of the tape cassette, so that when the end of the cassette is aligned with the slot, the cassette is easily insertable therethrough. As is generally known, after the tape cassette has been partially loaded into the recorder housing through this access slot, the cassette is engaged by an automated mechanism which continues the endwise movement of the cassette until the cassette has been fully inserted into the recorder housing. When unloading of the cassette from the recorder housing is desired, the operator engages the automated mechanism within the recorder housing to reverse the process and cause the cassette to be endwise ejected through the access slot in the outward face wall, where upon the operator can manually grasp the outward facing end of the cassette and remove the cassette fully from the housing to complete the unloading.
As is also known, the access slot formed in the outward face wall of the recorder housing may be provided with a hinged door, which serves to prevent the ingress of dust and other possibly harmful matter from passing through the access slot. See, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,606.
A principal object of the present invention is to enable a hinged door at the recorder housing access slot to serve reliably as a dust cover across the slot opening and yet be reliably opened in a mechanical fashion for injection and ejection of the tape cassette by the operator.